Cambridge 1923 25-21 Army U23
Cambridge 1923s came out on top in a fast and furious encounter with the Army U23 side at Grantchester Road with a superlative performance’ in attack and defence, which belied the age of the squad and showed the developmental strides made by Josh Sharp’s youngsters. Aided and abetted by the return of full back Ben Currie from injury, and another Club debut from human wrecking ball Chris Mills at number eight, the victory saw Sharp in enthusiastic mood after a full-on evening.
“What a game! We had to dig in, show grit, and learn some tough lessons – and the boys put in some performances that they’ll remember for a long time. It was a completely different type of performance to the win over Cambridge University – and there were some real stand-outs tonight. Ed Wood – our 18 year old prop, the youngest member of the team, was fantastic. That first half performance from Ben Currie put us where we wanted to be – he was brilliant and showed his leadership.Chris Mills’ physicality was huge – Mark Miska-Alvarez is learning to lead a team as captain of the side this year. The line out was excellent. There’s definitely some learnings to take from this – we have to understand when we’re making bad decisions and fix our errors, but, first and foremost I’m very happy. It’s ‘our war’ – and we won that one!”
Cambridge set their stall out early, running the ball with aplomb’ with Jasper Sorrell at the heart, and it was no surprise that they took and early lead. There was no surprise, either, in the scorer – the live-wire Clark Macfarlane – who scorched in in the corner to touch down. The Army provided an instant repost, going over from a winning scrum. That try was converted for a 5-7 lead.But it took no time at all for Ethan Thorne to score Cambridge’s second – with several attacking phases rebuffed on the visitors’ line on the right, Currie set a cross-field attack in motion with the final pass putting Thorne in at the corner.
The try of the match, though, was scored on the half-hour. Currie ran the ball out of defence, and although tackled, put in a sumptuous chip which Preston Macfarlane plucked out of the air to power through to the line. Will Howes converted and Cambridge went into the break 22-7 to the good.
With changes rung and a hugely committed and entertaining Army side clearly stung by the 1923s first half showing, the second period was always likely to be a proper battle. So it proved, with both sides putting in stunning defensive shifts and showing attacking prowess. Mills spent 10 minutes off the field after a yellow card – the Army capitalised after over a dozen phases, finally breaking down the home resistance and then with the clock heading towards the red, forced themselves over for a 1-point game. Jack Vernum sensibly slotted a penalty from the 22 to stretch the lead to four points, but there was still time for a restart and a desperate scramble from both sides to preserve the result or improve their fortunes. Eventually, after some – heart-in-the-mouth defending, Cambridge got the ball off the field for a statement win.
Cambridge
Currie, Thorne, C Macfarlane, Sorrell, P Macfarlane, Howes, Sandercock; Barry, Smith, Singleton, Hirst, Miska- Alvarez (C), Caton, Johnson, Mills
Reinforcements – Williams, Bowerman, White, Wood, Hall, Vernum, Varela, Sawtel, McKenna